Ice Cream Man Attacked Midtown Pretzel Vendor With Bat, Police Say

An ice cream truck driver tried to settle a turf dispute with a Midtown Manhattan pretzel vendor with a baseball bat to the head, the police said on Tuesday.

The attack was another skirmish in the continuing battles over territory between street-food vendors, notably ice cream sellers. It occurred several weeks ago, but the ice cream man, John Cicero, was not arrested until Tuesday, the police said.

On the afternoon of May 12, Mr. Cicero, 40, drove his New York Ice Cream truck to a favorite spot on 54th Street near Madison Avenue, but he found the pretzel vendor already selling from a cart on the sidewalk there, said Lt. Marco Gonzalez, head of the Midtown North Precinct’s detective squad.

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A wanted poster from the Police Department showing an ice cream vendor later identified as John Cicero, who was arrested on Tuesday and charged with assaulting a pretzel seller.CreditNew York Police Department

Mr. Cicero and the pretzel man, whose name was not released, entered into a standoff, Lieutenant Gonzalez said: “Both of them mutually thought that the other would make it more difficult for them to conduct business at the location.”

The men exchanged punches, and then Mr. Cicero went to his truck, retrieved the bat and hit the pretzel man twice in the head, causing contusions, Lieutenant Gonzalez said.

A witness got the bat away from Mr. Cicero, who then pulled a knife, menaced the pretzel man and fled in the white-and-purple ice cream truck, the police said.

A search ensued. The police showed surveillance video images believed to be of Mr. Cicero to other New York Ice Cream vendors. Wanted posters went up. Eventually, Mr. Cicero’s lawyer contacted the police, and Mr. Cicero turned himself in on Tuesday morning. He was charged with felony assault. Mr. Cicero’s lawyer, Theodore Kasapis, did not immediately return a message left on Tuesday evening.

New York Ice Cream, based in Queens, has been in the news lately — its drivers have shut the soft-serve giant Mister Softee out of Midtown, using threats and intimidation, Mister Softee officials said. East 54th Street falls squarely into New York Ice Cream’s Midtown territory.

Emily S. Rueb contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: Ice Cream Man Used Bat to Hit Pretzel Vendor, Authorities Say. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe